Bush poised to veto stem cell bill

Bush poised to veto stem cell measureBill would boost federal support for research that uses material from discarded embryos

BENNETT ROTH, Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

Published
5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, July 19, 2006

WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to cast the first veto of his presidency as soon as today on legislation approved Tuesday by the Senate that would expand federal support for embryonic stem cell research.

Bush, who approved funding for a limited number of stem cell lines five years ago, opposes the bill because it would use government money for stem cells derived from embryos discarded at fertility clinics.

"The simple answer is he thinks murder's wrong," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something living and making it dead for the purposes of scientific research."

The Senate passed the measure on a 63-37 vote. It was approved by a wide margin in the House last year.

But there appeared to be almost no chance that either chamber would be able to muster the two-thirds vote needed to override a presidential veto.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, voted for the expansion of research funding because, she said, it has "the potential to save lives and really help people who otherwise do not have the capability to live normal lives."

Texas' other senator, Republican John Cornyn, voted against the bill, saying that expansion of public funding "would force millions of Americans, for whom embryo destruction is at odds with their moral beliefs, to support such destruction with their tax dollars, particularly at a time when much remains unknown about this research."

The legislation ensures that researchers only have access to embryos that would otherwise be discarded at fertility clinics and that donors give written consent to their use.

An estimated 400,000 embryos are stored at U.S. fertility clinics. Bush previously authorized support for research on more than 70 existing cells lines, 22 of which have proved usable for research, on which the government has spent about $90 million.

There was no estimate available on how much expanded research would cost.

The Senate debate Tuesday was emotional, with proponents citing cases of celebrities, relatives and constituents who suffered from diseases that they argued might someday be cured if stem cell research is expanded.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a heart surgeon, promoted the bill during a meeting in his Capitol office with actress Mary Tyler Moore, who suffers from diabetes.

"This is an intelligent human being with a heart," she said of Bush, "and I don't see how much longer he can deny those aspects of himself."

Opponents said a promising alternative was adult stem cell technology, which uses cells from bone marrow and other organs.

"I don't understand how we can throw something in the trash can that can be used to prevent human suffering," he said.

The Senate unanimously approved two other stem cell-related measures that were sponsored by conservatives and that Bush has agreed to sign. One would ban "fetal farming" — creating fetuses so that their tissues or organs can be used for research. Another would support federal efforts to encourage scientists to produce cells that are similar to the embryonic stem cells but do not involve destroying the embryo.

Later Tuesday, the House approved the ban on fetal farming, but rejected the second measure.